Graham Arnold’s exhibition of recent paintings, drawings and collages and Robert Bates’ exhibition of recent watercolours will be at the Silk Top Hat Gallery

Graham Arnold, with his wife Ann, have had more than ten exhibitions at the Gallery. Their work is especially well known in the context of the Brotherhood of Ruralists. They were founder members of the group in 1975 and they continue to exhibit their work with other members and friends as well as in solo exhibitions. Their work has frequently been shown in London at the Piccadilly Gallery and at Clerkenwell Fine Art.

Graham Arnold says, 'My paintings are motivated by particular feelings that I have for certain landscapes, or people I know well, or certain poets, writers and composers. This sounds like a wide spectrum, but in reality is not so as I return frequently to the same inspiration. I love things which contain the past in ghost form and many paintings use this as a starting point.'

Robert Bates was one of the earliest exhibitors at the Silk Top Hat Gallery and we were pleased to welcome him back to the area and to the Gallery after a twenty year sojourn in Ireland. His miniature watercolours open up a vista of possibilities. 'The minute scale is in itself an object of beguilement, a work no bigger than a postcard focusses the act of perception and invites the viewer into an "Alice in Wonderland" world where things seem "curiouser" and more intense. As with the works of Palmer, Spencer, Nash or Hopper that have lent inspiration, there is a brooding, uneasy quality attempting to capture a fleeting moment in a never-predictable world a depth that needs more than one keyhole viewing to appreciate.' (Molesworth Gallery, Dublin).

Concurrent showcases: Jemima Jameson's decorated boxes and Duncan White's model creations.

For information about the exhibitors, further images or information about future exhibitions:

please phone 01584 875363 or see http://www.silktophatgallery.wordpress.com, www.isaacsmarts.wordpress.com.